Kottayam: The scheduled Instagram post that went up after Kerala IT professional Ananthu Aji died by apparent suicide last week came as a shock to his family. In the post, Aji alleged he had faced repeated sexual and physical abuse at the hands of a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) member, and knew of others who had faced similar abuse from the “RSS camp”.
The family has been associated with the RSS for four generations.
In another scheduled video that got posted from the Kerala techie’s Instagram account on Wednesday, the alleged abuser was identified as ‘Nidheesh Murali’.
Speaking to ThePrint at their home in Kottayam district’s Manoli village, the family said they want the culprit to be punished, but they don’t want the RSS to be blamed as a whole.
“We don’t want to blame the entire organisation as a whole. It could be just one individual who is the problem,” said Ananthu’s cousin, Prajod P. Raj.
The body of Ananthu, a software developer, was found hanging in a lodge in Thiruvananthapuram by hotel staff on 9 October. In a purported suicide note scheduled on Ananthu’s Instagram, he said he was suffering from anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) caused by the repeated sexual and physical abuse faced as a child.
Ananthu joined the organisation as a child due to his father’s interest.
“Don’t ever interact with an RSS member. The one who abused me was an active RSS member. I know I am not his only victim and that many others have also faced the same abuse from him and from the RSS camp. We need to save them and give proper counselling,” he wrote.
He further alleged that he was aware of many other counsellors who are undergoing physical and sexual abuse in the organisation. Ananthu used the initials ‘NM’, to identify his abuser, a former neighbour.
Thampanoor police in Thiruvananthapuram have registered a case of unnatural death and begun an investigation. The local Congress and CPI (M) leaders also approached the Ponkunnam Police Station, seeking a detailed probe.
The statement of Ananthu’s family was recorded on Monday.
ThePrint visited the Thampanoor police station seeking the details on the progress of the investigation, but the personnel on duty refused to comment.
Ananthu’s cousin Prajod said the family was aware of his mental health issues and that he was undergoing therapy for OCD and anxiety, but thought it was because of job pressure. He added that Ananthu himself got to know that the reason behind his mental health problems was his past, after therapy.
“We told him to quit if the job was giving him too much pressure,” he said.
The RSS issued a statement on Monday alleging a conspiracy behind the Instagram post as well as the death.
Talking to ThePrint, a local RSS leader in Manoli raised the same suspicion. He said the RSS is not an active organisation in the region and only mobilises people for events like Janmashtami and Pada Sanchalanam.
“All our programmes happen in open grounds and halls. We should have known if it were true. We believe that it’s a conspiracy to tarnish the image of the entire organisation,” the RSS leader said, requesting anonymity.
A village divided
In Ananthu’s Vanchimala village, about 40 km from Kottayam district on the foothills of the Western Ghats, local residents say the family mostly keep to themselves.
Abdul Kareem, Ananthu’s neighbour in the village of around 25,000 people, remembers him as a soft-spoken youth who wouldn’t talk much but had a nice demeanour.
“I saw Kannan (Ananthu’s pet name) every evening, when he took his dog out for a walk. And he would say he is alright,” Kareem recalls.
Others in the village, lined with rubber and pineapple plantations, as well as secluded houses, have similar memories of Ananthu, who lived in a house with a muddy pathway outside.
Amith TS, a 30-year-old living in the same area, remembers Ananthu as a silent person who wasn’t very active in the village’s social circle. “I only saw him walking with his head down.”
He added that many of Ananthu’s friends also belonged to the RSS in the locality. Amith also said the village, a stronghold of the CPI(M), is deeply divided along political and caste lines, with many socialising within their own groups.
Ananthu’s neighbours and relatives recalled that he was active in the RSS till his father, Aji, died in a road accident in 2019. Aji was a respected local RSS leader, while his grandparents were also associated with the organisation, they said. Ananthu’s mother is employed at the Veda Vyasa school in Thambalakkadu village, near Ponkunnam town, controlled by the RSS.
Other local residents said Ananthu was his sister’s sole supporter regarding her relationship with a Muslim.
In the Instagram post, too, Ananthu had mentioned his love for his sister and mother. The post also said that many of his friends, who were earlier close to him, were not talking to him. He suspected that it was because of his constant criticism of the BJP and RSS, it added.
“I don’t know whether it’s because I supported my sister’s wish. They are all humans, I can’t see them just based on religious identity,” read the post.
Ananthu got his Bachelor’s degree from Al-Azhar College in Thodupuzha and was employed in an IT firm in Aluva near Kochi.
The local RSS leader quoted earlier said the organisation believes Ananthu had joined the SFI in college and had been keeping a distance from the organisation ever since.
“He was coming to the temple regularly. After college, he wasn’t regular,” the leader said, adding that the Instagram post didn’t seem like one written by a Sangh member.
“There is a language and tone we use. The post is clearly written by someone else,” he said.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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